When Legends Clash
by WinterAngel24
Summary: 'You didn't believe you were the only legends to exist out there, did you' When two dark powers join together, you'll find that not everything recorded by mortals was very accurate. Buckle up kiddos. A new adventure is about to begin, and with it, a lesson of the century. (T for language)


**I have one of the best and the worst type of mind in the world. It has an imagination that won't shut up. I mean it literally. It keeps me up at night.**

Chapter 1 Darkness Arrives

When night rolled around for the European and Asian half of the globe, all was well. Sandy and Tooth got to work as per usual, while the other three guardians went about their business. Everything was adding up to be just a normal day. But all was not well. And as the guardians were soon going to find out, darkness was a greater force than they first believed.

It was the western side of North America that experienced it firsthand; the horrifying sight of the sun blotting out. Children were the first to start screaming, for it was they who could see the giant hand- like the shadows haunting the night- reach up and choke the life out of life-giving lantern that blazed above them. And they knew, they didn't know how or why, but their lives were about to take a turn for the worst. Their only hope was in their legends, the faint unconfirmed whisper of the guardian of children. Their belief burned bright, and their hope turned anew. The guardians would come.

The guardians would protect them all.

xXx

The four didn't need a signal to know that they should gather at the pole and join their fifth member. But even so, the northern lights folded out its ribbons of light, like a beacon of wonder. However, theses lights were also followed with flashes of lighting without the boom of its thundering brother to follow.

It was only the newest member who was confused with this signal, for North would surly have no need for such things. But he knew that he would find out soon enough. He arrived through the skylight, where the still glowing Mim peaked through to watch his guardians gather.

"What's going on?" The winter spirit called out, taking immediate notice of the unknown guest who had just finished a conversation with North. "Who turned off the lights?"

It was a half-hearted joke to lighten the mood and North smiled appreciatively. "That is what Zeus will tell us when the others have arrived."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jack cut in. "Zeus? As in the Greek god?"

The gray bearded man laughed heartily, his overly muscular form rippling. "You certainly couldn't have believed that you were the only legends to truly exist!"

And he didn't, but meeting such a historic figure so suddenly was a bit off putting for the young guardian.

The apparent 'Zeus" chuckled and shook his head. "I jest my young companion, I can tell that we are all aware and I apologize for my sudden appearance. But this situation is grave and calls for our attention."

"Oh dear," Bunny grumbled, placing a palm over his eyes. "I wanted to go a few more centuries without those two coming together again."

"What do you mean?" Jack inquired, floating over to his furry friend.

"Cupid and Aphrodite have it out for each other," Tooth explained with a small giggle. "If you thought North and Bunny were bad, wait until you see these two."

Jack scrunched his face in confusion. "But…Don't those two do the same thing?"

Sandy shook his head, signs made out of his golden sand flashing beyond the speed of comprehension above his head.

"What Sandy means," Tooth cut in when she noticed a lack of understanding within the youngest guardian, "is that it's true that both support love, but it's a little more complicated than that. Aphrodite helps people connect and find someone they can be happy with the rest of their lives. She also helps build long-standing relationships between friends and family. Cupid…Well…"

"He's a little tart," Bunny interrupted. "Cupid's job was supposed to be helping people find jobs and activities that they would love and make them happy. But he grew bored and decided to play with the other ranges of love. But his love between people was weak and without a solid foundation, with causes more problems and heartbreaks."

"More than love, Cupid creates infatuation," Tooth continued. "Most relationships between younger generations was created by Cupid. Teenager crushes and whatnot."

"And what's wrong with that?" Jack asked innocently.

"What's wrong with that," a new voice cut in coldly, "is that in the earlier centuries, these mixed feelings of infatuation caused thousands of unneeded deaths."

Jack turned around and was met with the sight of an ethereal beauty. The woman had white-blond hair, flowing and elegant, rippling down her shoulders. Her skin was a rich chocolate, seeming to sparkle with golden accents. But it was her eyes that caught his attention the most. They were a deep regal violet, but there were streaks of red- like the petals of a rose- sticking out from beneath her ebony pupils. The woman carried herself in a proud and graceful fashion, confident in everything she was and stood for.

"If you thought Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, then imagine watching it happen repeatedly all over the world!" The woman continued. "All my hard word to gently weave the string of fate that connects only the truest of lovers, broken and tangled by the brittle weaves of infatuation, jealousy, and envy!"

"Ooooh~! It wasn't that bad!" A flamboyant voice called out. A man wearing form fitting black pants and an unbuttoned crimson dress shirt floated in, his angel like wings aflutter. "Toothiana! My most lovely dear! I'm so glad to see you again, are you ready to go on that date with me yet?"

"Not that bad!" Aphrodite snapped, interrupting- and inadvertently saving Tooth- the gaudy legend's questioning. "Do you know how many villages fell and wars started because of your reckless actions! The better parts of China will never be the same!"

"Oh pish-posh!" Cupid said with a flick of his wrist. "Those experiences helps the mortals realize who their true love really is! Besides Ares had a lot of fun!"

"Enough!" Zeus cut in before the goddess of love could reply with a shrill shriek. "We don't have time for your arguing. Calm yourselves until this matter is settled."

The was a burst of light and two figures fell into the room, joining the rest of the growing group that Jack had failed to notice during the argument.

"Demeter! Hermes! Persephone!" Aphrodite called out in concern, running over to tend to the stumbling group.

"Hera!" the male of the group shouted. "Demeter needs aid!"

Jack watched as another woman moved forward. He took this time to notice that for Greek gods, they didn't dress and appear as most mortals had depicted them. This group could actually blend into a crowd very easily. Well, a crowd of models anyways. The only thing that made them look like they could be anything but a regular human was the fact that each of them was stunning in their own right.

"What happened?" North demanded.

Demeter shook her head. "It happened too fast, I had a difficult time defending myself, let alone the others."

"Artemis stayed behind to give us time to get away," Persephone panted, tears streaming down her face. "I should have stayed there. You shouldn't have come for me."

Hera pulled away from the other woman with a sigh and placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. "Nonsense my dear. Coming here was the right thing. With the way things are going, you would have only gotten hurt."

"That's right my darling," Demeter jumped in, pulling the girl into a hug. "I would have died knowing that we hadn't done anything."

"Then the only one we're waiting for now is Artemis," Bunny mumbled.

"That's if she can get away," a male that Jack had yet to identify grumbled.

"She will come!" The god with a trident, therefor obviously Poseidon, shouted.

"How can you be so sure!" The unidentified male snapped back. "They already have Apollo! Who's to say that she's not the next one to go!"

"_Enough_!" Zeus thundered. "We understand where you're coming from Ares, but we must have faith in our young ones. Artemis is strong and she knows her limits."

"But with Apollo gone, we can't say for sure that she is in her right mind," the most sophisticated looking of the last two unidentified woman pointed out.

The last unknown woman nodded in agreement. "Athena has a point. Those two may not have been siblings by blood, but they were just as close. Knowing Artemis, she may have fallen into a self-destructive mode."

Hera nodded slowly. "But we have to remember that she is a smart girl and she knows that she is an important link between dear Mim and the earth."

Suddenly a bright moonbeam filtered into the room, a girl surfing in on its gentle waves. She landed clumsily, lacking the clear grace the others held, stumbling across the floor. But it became obvious a second later as to why. The wounds the girl was sporting was innumerable. If the injuries were as painful as they looked, then it was a miracle that she could still stand at all.

Before anyone could come to her aid though, Artemis looked up with a start. And, abruptly, her intricate ivory bow with silver weavings was fitted with a diamond like arrow and released three times over. Jack, Tooth, and Bunny dodged just in time and even before an argument could form, a shadowy figure screeched and burst into dust where the arrow had pierced them.

The girl snapped her attention to the leader of their group, glaring fiercely. "I thought you said no one would be followed!"

"Artemis, calm down," Athena said gently.

"No, I will _not_ calm down!" The moon goddess snapped. "You haven't seen or fought as many of those monstrosities those two created as I have! You didn't see Apollo go down! So do _not_ tell me to calm myself."

"Then at least sit still and so that I can attend to your wounds and quietly so that the others can inform everyone about the situation at hand," Hera said complacently.

The last arrival clicked her tongue angrily, but sat down as she was told.

"You're the winter spirit named Jack Frost, am I correct?" The wife of Zeus directed toward the young guardian once she was sure the moon child wouldn't kick up another fuss.

Jack nodded and stepped forward. "What do you need?"

Hera smiled and pointed to some rather nasty bruises cover the girl's arms, legs, and torso. "If you could cool those areas for me while I take care of her other wounds, it would be of great help."

Artemis rolled her eyes, but bit her tongue and said nothing.

The winter guardian pretended not to notice and nodded to the older woman with a smile, doing as he was asked.

Zeus, now assured that there would not be any more interruptions, stepped forward to begin their meeting. "My friends, we've called you together for the gravest of matters. Hades has made his move once more."

"But this time, he is not alone," North finished.

"What do you mean, not alone?" Bunny questioned. "And what does this have to do with us?"

"This problem is not just our anymore." The young Persephone pushed away from her mother and took a shaky breath. "Nearly a month ago a shadow stepped forward into the realm of the dead and spoke to Hades. Thankfully, my time in the underworld was up, so I was able to return and tell the others."

"However, Hades came back and snatched my little girl from me," Demeter continued hatefully. "He went against Zeus's orders, but when I went to retrieve her, we found the way blocked by strange fearlings that had never bothered with us before."

Zeus nodded and stepped back in. "I have observed them and looked for the cause, finding that Hades had gained a partner. From there the fearlings evolved quickly and attacked Apollo, dragging him out of the sky and imprisoning him. Even I could do nothing to stop them."

Jack frowned in confusion. How could all of these people not be able to do anything? They were _gods_.

Artemis snorted, completely able to read through the winter spirit's confusion. "Despite what all the myths you hear about us say, we're not all that powerful. We're nothing more than keepers of the earth, looking after the growth and development of this planet. We have powers like your group, but that doesn't make us invincible. Your group also has the added power of your believers to take into account as well. As far as I'm concerned the 'Greek Gods' of legend are nothing but a washed up group of rag-tag no ones, forced to hang around until time's end."

"Please forgive her," the motherly Hera muttered to the young guardian, glancing at her husband. "Time has made all of us bitter, Artemis more so than others. Human's may have been able to record a few of our tales, but none of them could capture everything about our pasts and not everything recorded was the full truth either."

Jack nodded with an easy smile. "I don't know your pasts and you don't know mine. Everyone has something that they're not proud of or that hurts, so I don't need to know."

The woman smiled in appreciation and turned back to the group who were still discussing the presented topic.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Bunny interrupted. "Wait a sec mate. If I got you correctly, then you're saying that…"

North nodded gravely. "Pitch and Hades are working together."


End file.
